The 56-year-old president of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will be the first woman to hold the top job in the Muslim-majority state since its accession to India in 1947.

She will also be the second Muslim woman to head a state – the first being Syeda Anwar of the Congress who became chief minister of Assam in 1980.

On her elevation, Mehbooba will join the women chief ministers club currently in office in four states - Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Anandiben Patel ( Gujarat), Vasundhara Raje ( Rajasthan) and Jayalalitha ( Tamil Nadu).

Sucheta Kriplani was the first woman to become chief minister of an Indian state ( Uttar Pradesh) in 1963.

Of 29 states and seven union territories, only 11 states and one UT have seen women chief ministers in the last seven decades. Only Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have had two women chief ministers.